Interesting new marquee. Evidently the "Toronto perspective" involves lots of pictures of guys' butts.

Anyway, I'm not going to write anything about Robert Ellis. He's 32 and making his 28th career appearance. Nuff said.

Enjoy the game.

three potent righty sticks

How quickly I've forgotten Chris Woodward. They can't give Bordick a day off while he's on the hit streak, so Woody hasn't played for quite a while. Mike can play third if and when Hinske takes a night off, giving Woody a rare start, but they may not see a southpaw until Zito next weekend.

Kelvim looks calm and collected; hitting A-Rod didn't upset him against Raffy. Scott, that's quite an endorsement of Ellis. I think the Toronto hitters are looking forward to this.

The Rangers signed Ellis to an offseason NRI. He's one of those guys you sign to fill out your AAA rotation (just like Mickey Callaway, who Texas signed last week). Thanks to injuries to Valdes and the spectacular wretchedness of Park and Ryan Drese, Ellis is a Major League starter.

And... my dear God in Heaven, RAFAEL PALMEIRO stole a base!

...answering the age-old question about the irresistible force (Kelvim's ridiculously slow move to the plate) and the immovable object (Palmeiro).

Pretty good ball game. After two walks and a single, Hinske's sac fly gave the Jays a 2-1 lead. Escobar's thrown 78 mostly economical pitches, and Ellis is gone.

Great one in New York, where Gil Meche (Escobar's next opponent) outduelled Andy Pettitte 2-1.

Acknowleding his troubles from the right side, Orlando Hudson batted left against lefty Erasmo Ramirez, but with the bases loaded and one out, he hit a line drive at the right fielder, not deep enough to cash the runner. Better than the comebacker double play, I suppose.

makes me wonder if we'll hudson exclusively from the left side for the remainder of the year.

The second time Hudson was due vs. a lefty, Berg was announced to pinch-hit, prompting Showalter to bring in the righty, Rosman Garcia. With Hinske in scoring position after a 400-foot double, that's a better matchup for the Jays. After a very tough at-bat, Berg chased a high fastball. It's been another disappointing day for the hitters with men in scoring position.

Escobar's almost certainly done after 111 pitches; they've had Lopez, Service and Miller up at various times.

Sparky comes through with the 2-out RBI single; it's 3-2 Jays.

Reed Johnson!!! Coach, I can't wait for the interview.

Indeed. Nice hits by Hinske & Johnson and Raul Mondesi is an idiot. Thank you.

Bordick, now on a 17-game streak, drove in the fourth run, then Delgado got the RBI HBP and it's 5-2. Showalter's making changes like Carlos Tosca -- he's used three lefty relievers and two righthanders.

I presume Miller will face Palmiero, but the on-deck hitter Teixeira is even more dangerous from the right side, so he might be done after one hitter. Then who? Lopez, or Politte?

Shane, Raul being an idiot isn't exactly breaking news, but for those who missed his latest episode of whining, Mondesi now thinks the Yankees discriminate against Dominicans. What a twit.

Then who? Lopez, or Politte?

Service, of course.

coach, congrats on the upcoming JP interview... must be very gratifying. i know i am looking forward to it.

That would be correct. Raul Mondesi is 'still' an idiot. Thank you.

Is Lopez hurt? Is Politte? Is this hunch time? The pain is becoming physical...

Yuk!

It's time to retire Service's jersey -- with him still in it, of course.

Aquilino made Nivar look sick with three straight sliders, each better than the last. Then he went right after Young to clean up the mess Service -- and Tosca -- made. It's over!

Coach is a lot quicker than ESPN GameCast. Mike Young is coming to the plate now.

If there was ever a quality save I think Lopez got it today.

Nice banner on the page (except that it takes up a screen and a half).

If there's a good part to Lidle's injury it's that he probably priced himself into Toronto's rotation next year. I can't imagine too many teams going hard after an injured pitcher who had an awful year.

The Padres signed Mark Loretta to an two year contract extension? Bummer. It would have been interesting if he were available again in the offseason.

Were Michael Wolverton not on vacation, I bet Kelvim Escobar would be on the Top 30 Starters list. At the time of the last update (August 1), Kelvim had 1.8 SNWAR and the last guy on the top 30 list (David Wells) had 2.4. Since then, Kelvim's had an 8.1 IP, 0 R game and a 8.0 IP, 2 R game. He must be up near 2.5-3.0 SNWAR, and his SNPct must be around .650.

Kelvim has 3.5 SNWAR in his last 26 starts (all of 2001 and 2003), which would have made him the 24th best starting pitcher in baseball last season. Actually, wait, that doesn't count his two most recent games, 'cause those aren't reflected in Wolverton's last update. I'll make a conservative estimate of 0.7 SNWAR in these two games, giving him 4.2 SNWAR in his last 28 starts -- which would have made him the 19th best starting pitcher in baseball last year.

I suppose that the point that I am obtusely trying to make is that the talk of Kelvim being maybe a decent #3 starter is misguided. Kelvim is an above-average #2 starter right now, and he's better than a lot of #1 guys. I'm not talking potential; I'm talking results.

I honestly don't know what it is that makes me so defensive about Kelvim, so bear with me ;)

If top notch organizations like the Giants, Braves or Cardinals don't swoop in and outbid the Blue Jays for Escobar i'll personally be quite quite surprised. That or if teams desperate for pitching with a penchant for overpaying like the Orioles or Rangers don't beat them to it, again i'll be suprised. If Escobar continues like he's been, and Ricciardi and he can work out something reasonable for both parties while also allowing the money to lock Halladay in, and still acquire some other better tier pitching, I hope Escobar does stay. Should be interesting to watch either way.

I'm real glad that the way this blog is treating Kelvim has changed so dramatically. And really hope he makes a good deal with TBJ and we can comment that along with that million dollar arm he has a big heart ( and a brain ).

In my opinion and i really dont wanna jump the gun early but i think considering Esco's stuff we not only have a #2 starter but 2 possible aces on our staff. I realize that I could be getting ahead of myself but ever since Esco has moved to the rotation he has a 7-5 record with a 3.21 ERA and if the bullpen had helped him out he would have 10 or 11 wins. I really hope the Jays resign him. Now all we need is a decent #3 starter. Its too bad Justin Miller got injured this year cause with a full year of starting in the big leagues he might have been the answer. But we got Arnold comin up next year so lets hope for the best. I think if Justin Miller can come back strong next spring and Arnold comes up and pitches well next year our rotation would be all rite. Its a lot of ifs but for once us Jays fans deserve some luck now. And J.P please please sort out that thing that u call a bullpen.

When everyone was calling for Escobar's head and willing to trade him for a bag of balls two months ago I think I was one of very few who said the move back to the rotation was the right move to make. I applaud and wish to echo Jabonoso's sentiments. All the answers do not necessarily lie in the numbers all of the time but in Kelvim's case they did. He has shown in the past he was a capable starter and he has only proven this once again. My hats off to him for swimming against a merciless tide and stepping up with his head high. Finally and not being the biggest on this site's boosterism for JP; I give him credit for not throwing away this asset on deadline day. Now the challange--as has been mentioned-- is to get him signed.

"I could have had this taken care of a month and a half, two months ago," he said. "Yet I kept saying, 'Next time it'll be fine.' "

See all my previous rants about crossing the line between courage and foolishness.

I'm probably just being overly cynical, but I wonder if sometimes the bad performance creates the injury rather than the injury creating the bad performance.

Hmm. If only the Jays had never taken Kelvim out of the rotation at all. But the past is the past. At least now they have an idea of what kind of pitcher they've always had under their nose and just didn't notice. And if the biggest concern with Kelvim was that he couldn't go deep into games, I think that's been more than put to rest.

Now the tough part will be resigning him but the key I think will be to do it before he has a chance to field free agent offers. If it takes a three year contract, eventhough that very tough to commit to, I think they have to do it (particularly if they can get the last year to vest based on innings pitched).

The Jays then have two established starters and still have about $6 or $7 million to spend between the third rotation spot (assuming they'll go cheap in the last two spots) and the bullpen for 2004.

Hmm. If only the Jays had never taken Kelvim out of the rotation at all.

They took Escobar out of the rotation because of circulation problems in his forearm, which thankfully have not reappeared this year.

In the past, I think Escobar's problem has been lack of confidence: he didn't trust his stuff enough to just go out there and attack hitters. In his earlier incarnations as a starter, once he got men on base, he would dawdle on the mound and attempt to make perfect pitches. The result was high pitch counts and, usually, disaster. Now, he has had a run of (relative) consistency, and hopefully that has given him confidence. (For what it's worth, I've never thought that intelligence or work ethic were ever a problem.)

It's been a long strange trip for Escobar: in April, who would have thought that he would reach the point he's reached now?

I'm not sure yet whether the Jays should sign him to a long-term deal. I suspect that the Jays will be willing to sign him, but that somebody (Texas? Boston?) will throw a lot of money at him. The Jays have to budget for Halladay, so they may not be able to make the highest bid for Escobar. (As I've said before, I fervently hope that Escobar doesn't become a Yankee, as the Bronx has eaten up players who are more confident than Escobar.)

Escobar is obviously good enough now to be offered arbitration, which means that the Jays will get a draft pick if they lose him.

Bob Elliott, you are repetitive, dull and obsolete as a journalist--though you're a wonderful hack. Congradulations.

Look out Toronto, here come the Orioles! Or maybe not. Oh, who cares.

If top notch organizations like the Giants, Braves or Cardinals don't swoop in and outbid the Blue Jays for Escobar i'll personally be quite quite surprised. That or if teams desperate for pitching with a penchant for overpaying like the Orioles or Rangers don't beat them to it, again i'll be suprised.

The Os are going hunting for an ace this winter, but I'm sure they'll want an "established" "name" ace. Think Millwood or Colon.

And the Orioles aren't "desperate" for pitching. Should be able to build an effective rotation from the new ace, Ainsworth, Moss (if he signs), Johnson, Lopez, Riley, and Dubose. The Great John Maine and rehabbing Eric Bedard should arrive in 2005.

Maybe I should reach AA before anyone calls me "great," especially since I'm already 22 years old.

Yuck it up, Jay boys. The Red Sox didn't think much of the Orioles before this weekend either.

8)

PS - So if the Great John Maine makes it to the show in 2005, he'll be 24. Just about the right age to break in. 8)